[Curtis] She Thinks It's Nothing

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet lifted her hand over her head that was carrying her clutch as she tried to force her way through the seemingly endless amount of bodies that were scattered across the bar tonight. The House of Blues was a pretty entertaining bar in the first place, and now that Ryan’s band was playing tonight it was a no-brainer that she needed to come tonight. She and Ryan had been friends ever since they were little kids and had met through Alyse. She might not be speaking to Alyse anymore, but the friendships she had formed with Ryan and Logan were more prominent now in her life than ever before. She knew she was a little over dressed for one of his shows, but if Madeline was there she wouldn’t be the only one. Besides she’d had to attend a banquet for her father earlier in the evening, and there hadn’t been a time in his career that she hadn’t tried to make him squeamish with her appearance. It was difficult for him to have a platform on family values when his daughter was walking around looking like saran wrap was a staple in her closet. When Logan had said that he was moving to New York, it seemed like the easiest decision in the world that she needed to come too. It was a chance to start over new, something fresh. She smiled as she reached the bar counter finally, setting her clutch against the bar. “ Hi, can I get a Jack and coke?” she yelled over whatever band was playing before The Maine came on.

It was strange seeing girls wearing The Maine memorabilia when she was so close with the lead singer. It seemed like yesterday he was playing drums on the pots and pans in all of their kitchens, and the only time you could really get a lot out of him was when you asked him to sing. He might have an outgoing personality when he was on stage, but he was one of the quietest people she ever knew. “ Thanks” Scarlet said as she picked up her drink and placed a few bills down to cover paying for it and for the tip. She had just started turning back over towards the crowd when she felt someone nearly knock her over as they took her into a hug. ‘ Oh my god, Scarlet! I’m so glad you came.’ Scarlet felt her drink spill out of her hands before she’d even had a chance to take a drink out of it. She was slightly annoyed as she looked to see who had basically attacked her, but a soft smile came over her lips instead. “ Hey Mandi.. had some drinks?” she laughed as she looked over Riley’s sister. Scarlet looked over her shoulder and signaled for the bartender again before making an apologetic face and ordering another Jack and Coke. ‘ Maybe a few. Look, I’m going to go try and say hi to Ryan before his show starts. I’ll find you later, love you!”, Mandi yelled over the music before she took off. Scarlet gave a small, sarcastic salute before she shook off the Jack and Coke that had spilled on her hand. She knew when she had dropped it that it had found a victim, and she scanned the bar quickly to try and find him. Scarlet scrunched her nose apologetically as she made her way over to him, moving her hair out of her face. “ I’m so so, sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to… let me buy your next drink and we can sort of call it even,”. Scarlet took her clutch back out and took out a few more bills before she held them out to the bartender and looked back at the gentleman she had bathed in whiskey and soda. ‘ I’m sorry, again..” she yelled at him again as she leaned over to be heard over the music.

Dress

[alex]

● CURTIS FIELDS ●

Curtis was pretty terrible at beer pong. When he first played it at a party he kicked ass, and that was the one and only time he had won, beginners luck at its best. That didn't stop him from trying though which resulted in some very drunken nights, and a lot of bad decisions. One recent bad decision was accepting a bet proposed by his friend who had won a ticket to a local concert through the radio. The bet was that the loser would have to go the concert by themselves, and since none of them had ever heard of the band The Maine, no one wanted to lose. After a few rounds, Curt found himself in the last game against his friend who was just as bad at beer pong as him. Unsurprisingly the next night Curtis found himself walking into the venue of the concert. Alone.

Once inside the House of Blues, Curt made a beeline for the bar. It was already pretty crowded and he had to squeeze through a lot of people before his arm landed on the bar counter. The only silver lining of losing the bet was that drinks were cheap and he fully intended on getting drunk. As he waited for the bartender to get his drink order he scanned the crowd. There were a lot of girls wearing shirts and bracelets branded with the words The Maine, and Curt could tell they wished the DJ would get off stage and that the band would come on already. They all also looked like they would cry if one of the band members even made eye contact with them, Curt cringed at the thought. He turned back to the bartender and ordered a double vodka water lime, he might as well start strong.

Curtis felt it before he saw it, a cold wet trickle going from his belly button down his pants. He had gotten a drink spilled on him and he had barely been in the place for ten minutes. He let out a sigh as he looked down and saw the empty glass on the ground near his grey vans slip-ons. There was no way to tell who around him was the culprit of clumsiness which caused him such discomfort, so he just started towards the bathroom to see if he could save his blue button down shirt. Before he could even take a step in the right direction he heard a sultry voice muttering apologies. Looking towards the sound the voice he couldn't help but be taken back by the gorgeous blonde locks he saw and the face it framed. She was wearing a fitted dress that was making Curt drool and he couldn't help but think of how happy he was that it wasn't one of the fan girls in the band clothes that had spilled their kool-aid on him. He was led back to the bar by the pretty drink spiller, and before he could say a word he had two drinks in his hands and a lot of apologies coming his way. Curt smiled, "Its okay, really. I hated this shirt anyways. I'm Curtis" he said leaning in so she could hear him over the music. "Thank you for the drink by the way, you really didn't have to" He smiled, noting that he'd gladly have to buy her a drink later in the night.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet thanked the bartender as he got her another jack and coke, and then placed another double vodka water lime in front of the poor guy she had assaulted with her drink. She smiled as he said that it was alright, “ My friend Mandi can be really clumsy when she drinks,….she made me spill it. So really she should be buying you the drinks”. She narrowed her eyebrows as a confused expression settled upon her features. “Do you normally wear clothes that you hate?” Scarlet never really understood why people did that, cause it seemed to be a common saying ‘oh I hated that thing anyways’. Then why bother having it? “ Well atleast you get to rid of it, and you got two drinks for the price of one. I sort of did you a favor,” . Scarlet set her drink down as he introduced himself and smiled, glad that he didn’t hate her for being so clumsy. “ Nice to meet you, I’m Scarlet.” she said sweetly. In most situations she introduced herself she would have stuck her hand out to shake his, but thankfully she wasn’t a state banquet and her father wasn’t breathing down her neck, there were better ways to get acquainted with people.

With a smile still across her lips she leaned against the bar counter. “ Do you like shots?” she asked, though she didn’t stop to wait and hear what his response was. “ I’m so sorry..” she said as she waved the bartender down, giving him a small smile. “ Can I get four tequila shots, please? And limes.” Scarlet reached over the counter when he turned away and took the salt shaker before placing it between her and Curtis. It wasn’t completely against her nature to take shots with an absolute stranger, but he had been nice enough to not yell at her. Besides, there were people she knew in the place tonight. “ So do you like the Maine?” she asked as she waited for the shots, “ I basically grew up with the lead singer,.. he’s a lot of fun to hang out with,” she gave a small nod. If there was someone in the bar tonight that would play a game with her of matching shots, it would definitely be Ryan. Scarlet smiled at the bartender as he set the shots down, putting some salt against the inside of her thumb and forefinger before she slid the salt shaker down to Curtis. Scarlet moved her hair off of her shoulder before she brought her hand to her lips, sucking the salt off of it quickly before she downed her shot and quickly placed a lime between her lips.

[alex]

● CURTIS FIELDS ●

Curtis laughed as the girl said it was her drunk friend Mandi’s fault, and nodded to agree that she should have been the one buying a round. He laughed at her question about his shirt. “No I don’t usually, I just wasn’t sure what to wear so I just threw this on” he smiled. It wasn’t that he hated the shirt he just didn’t particularly care that it was ruined, especially since it started a conversation with the beauty standing in front of him. “Yes I should thank you, I usually don’t get drinks bought for me by such gorgeous girls” Curtis smiled, realizing how corny it sounded as it left his mouth. It was true though, it was usually the other way around, it was quite impressive to him that she wasn’t afraid to buy him a drink. “I’m Curtis, or Curt whatever you prefer” he replied after she introduced herself as Scarlet. His mind wandered to the only other time he had heard the name Scarlet. It had been in an old black and white movie and the woman, Scarlet, was a jaw dropping florist that Curt never seemed to of forgotten. It was a random memory but meeting this Scarlet now just reinforced the fact that all Scarlet's were gorgeous.

Scarlet asked him the golden question “Do you like shots”, yup Curtis was going to like this girl. He merely laughed as an answer to her question and flashed her a devious smile. When he heard her order tequila he almost moaned out loud. Did she know that tequila made pretty much everyone into a slut, man or woman? It certainly worked on him, he remembered….well he didn’t really remember, too many slutty nights with girls he barely knew. Snapping back into the conversation, Curt answered her question. “No, I’ve actually never heard of them before…awkwardly enough I’m here after losing this stupid bet with my friends” He said embarrassingly, realizing how high school it sounded. ”I’m into a lot of different music though, so if they are as good as this crowd makes them seem, I’m sure I’ll enjoy myself tonight” Curt said leaning in a little closer so she could hear him, also just so he could have an excuse to be nearer to her. He nodded as she talked about the lead singer, deflating a little since she said they were close but she didn’t specify if they were friends or more than that.

Curt smiled as he saw that the very slow bartender had finally placed their shots in front of them, and he made sure to pay him before Scarlet could this time. He caught the salt shaker when she passed it down and repeated the steps Scarlet had just carried out by putting a bit of salt on his hand. While watching Scarlet down her shot, he downed his as well but chose to skip the last step of the lime. “So Scarlet, anything I need to know about this band before they start?” he asked genuinely, he decided if he was going to be here he might as well make an effort to enjoy the band. He looked back towards the next shots as he waited for her reply. If had been a little later in the night and Curt was a few more drinks in, he’d probably be sucking the salt off of Scarlet's collar bone and taking the lime out of her mouth, or at least that’s what he’d hope he was doing. Since he wasn’t sure what kind of girl she was, he just decided to remove the limes from the equation by sliding them down the bar out of reach, with a coy smile on his face. He held up his shot and waited for her to do the same to see if she would accept his challenge of having no chaser.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet had changed a lot in the last few years, and she certainly wasn’t the type of girl that would be buying men she didn’t know drinks in a bar in the middle of New York City. But a lot had changed, and a lot of big life events forced her into the mindset that you only live once, it might as well be fun. Since then she’d dedicated living her life to not having any regrets; spare one, Logan Bolton. Getting engaged was probably the dumbest decision she had ever made, but she felt more forced into it than anything. Now that she had broken that off, she felt like she was becoming her own self again, finding her own identifier instead of being attached to someone else. She tucked some of her hair as she leaned against the bar and narrowed her eyebrows when he said that gorgeous girls didn’t ordinarily buy him drinks. All things considered, Scarlet never really thought of herself as pretty. Since she came from California she was always sort of used to there being a much more attractive blonde somewhere in the room. “ Well hopefully your luck will change and many, many more girls will buy you drinks. One of the biggest mistakes guys make is having a wingman…Wingwomen are much more effective. Nothing drives a girl more crazy than jealousy,”. Scarlet smiled as he said his name was Curtis and gave a small nod. “ You said that about a minute ago,… but that’s good. I’m really glad that my collision with you didn’t do any sort of brain damage,”

Scarlet turned her ear towards him to listen to him over the loudness of the bar as he explained what he was doing there tonight. She never understood boys and their silly bets, but if it got him out to the bar tonight to listen to Ryan and his friends, then by all means make bets. “ I promise you won’t regret it. I mean you might not be wearing a Maine t-shirt by the time you leave, or asking Ryan to sign your chest but… you might be tempted,” she said with a smile across her lips. Scarlet twirled the second shot glass against the counter lazily as she looked back over her shoulder to see if Ryan was taking the stage yet. When Curtis asked if there was anything he should know about the band, she thought for a few moments before she shrugged her shoulder. “ I think he’s got some new lyrics worked out but I’m not sure if he’ll play any new stuff tonight. I mean, he sort of writes from life experience. And it’s kind of kicked him in the ass lately. So if you’re into the whole.. ‘ I fell in love with my best friend’ thing then you’ll probably like them. Except then it turns into ‘ but she broke my heart, thought I cheated and married a Congressman. But I doubt that he’d make it that transparent in a song,”. Scarlet watched as he pushed the limes away and shook her head slightly. “ Cheers” she said as she lifted her shot glass to him before drinking it quickly, simultaneously picking up her Jack and Coke from the bar. Scarlet tilted her head towards the stage as she took her drink away from the bar counter, picking up Curtis’ as well and offering it to him. “ Come on,”she said, deciding to make her way towards where the band would be. Most girls would probably shy away from being so abrupt about spending time with someone; but Scarlet never really understood that. She loved meeting new people, and there was no sense in sitting at a bar counter asking each other about the weather or school, when you could be having fun.

[alex]

● CURTIS FIELDS ●

Curtis hadn’t always been a partier. When his friends first started drinking and going to all kinds of parties, Curtis stayed home or was always the designated sober friend in the group. After a while, and many parties later, Curtis became more and more comfortable with drinking and just being more outgoing in general. Not to mention he was sick of babysitting all of his wasted friends all the time. So naturally Curtis got really drunk one party and ended up puking his guts out before the clock had even struck midnight. He didn’t let that night stop him though, he decided to drink more responsibly and hadn’t stopped since, unfortunately for his liver. It wasn’t just his body that suffered from his hobby, his wallet wasn’t too happy about it either. Curtis had built up a pretty high tolerance for alcohol and he had to take shots or only drink doubles to get drunk fast enough for his liking. After finishing his original double vodka he placed it on the bar and directed his attention back to Scarlet who was talking about how effective wingwomen were. ”Yeah, if only if I had cool girl friends like that…maybe I’d score a date or two” he commented with a laugh. ”Oh shit, I didn’t even realize. Maybe I did hit my head earlier…” Curtis said looking away, feeling his cheeks go red after Scar brought it to his attention that he had introduced himself twice.

Chuckling at her comment about being tempted to buy a Maine shirt or even get Ryan to sign his chest, Curt looked back up at the stage. He couldn’t help but think of how this night could possibly go from a lost cause, to a great night. He turned his head back to the blonde in front of him as she answered his question about the band. Curt smiled as she talked about being in love with your best friend, but inwardly became even more nervous than he already was. Only Curt and a few close guy friends of his, knew that he was pretty much in love with his bff, Faith. Those friends only knew because they were always around him and Faith and razzed him about her when he was drunk and apparently Curt had admitted everything to them. Of course Curt dated other girls, but there was always that nagging feeling inside of him that he should be with Faith. He never acted on it though, since he had no idea if she felt the same and after so many years of friendship he didn’t want to jeopardize it. It was his best kept secret, well at least he hoped it was.

”Cheers” Curtis echoed as he clicked his shot into hers and swigged it back, noticing that she didn’t use a lime and gained even more respect for the mysterious girl. He grabbed his drink after being offered it by Scarlet and followed her towards the stage. Curt made sure to be careful to not spill his drink on anyone even though it seemed like a decent way to meet people in a crowded place like this. Scarlet seemed like a take charge kind of girl and Curtis liked that. Since he was usually on the more passive side, he found it pretty hot when a girl wasn’t afraid to make the first move or take control of a situation. His generally shy nature worked against him when it came to girls. Since he was always scared to make the first move, when he was sober at least, girls would put him in the friend zone and any chance he did have ,was gone. Girls tended to see him as just the nice, loyal guy they could depend on but for some reason didn’t think he was boyfriend material. Taking some sips of his drink, Curtis looked around to see if he knew anyone. It wasn’t his usual crowd, so he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t recognize many faces, at least no one he liked. Luckily for him Scarlet seemed to be alright with hanging out with him, at least for the moment. “So Scarlet” Curt started, leaning in so she could hear him clearly, “Are you going to school, or working or…?” He asked with genuine interest.


notes: sorry for lack of a good post...talk to you in two weeks!

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet watched Curtis as he spoke, but was chugging her drink back quickly too. “ Never had a wing woman?” she said with a slightly shocked face. “ Just a second” she said holding up a finger. Holding a glass in her hand all night was not really an option for her, and she sure as hell didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the bar and losing her new friend in the mix. She placed her hand on a guys’ chest that was walking by and chatted him up for a few seconds before holding her glass out to him and waving to him before turning her body back to Curtis. She took her phone out quickly to see if anyone had messaged her. Nada, Zilch. She frowned, hoping that Zach had gotten ahold of her at all but apparently he had better things to do. She put her phone back in her clutch and tried to brush it off, looking back at Curtis as she tried to remember what they were talking about.

” Right. Wing woman” she coughed before looking around the groups of people. “ Well the most important part of a wing woman is that you’re supposed to look completely uninterested in me. While I’m trying to look interested in you. It’ll make girls think you’re like.. unattainable, and there’s nothing an insecure girl with a huge self esteem issue loves than a guy that they think is a challenge.” Scarlet moved her hair from her face and narrowed her eyes at him. ‘ Focus. Uninterested, okay?” she said before she stepped closer to him.Scarlet wrapped her long arm around his neck lazily and pressed herself closer to him, tapping her fingertip against his chest before she traced it back and forth against his collar bone. “ I am in school,” she spoke quietly, so that any of the girls that might have been looking at Curtis wouldn’t know what they were talking about, and it could seem more mysterious or intimate than it really was. “ I go to Columbia, and I’m a political science major,” she said before she turned her head to the side slightly and smiled, bringing her hand that was wrapped around his neck and sliding it into the back of his hair. “ I did an internship in D.C. last summer and now I’m really interested in being able to pursue human rights movements, freedoms, etc. Those types of things. What about you, school?”.She looked back up at him and smiled. Even if some of her friends were in the audience tonight,Curtis seemed to be a nice enough guy to talk to.